Bookish Toughts

February 13, 2014

As I was reading my latest book, Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan, I started to think a head to my book review I would write. However, as I started to think, it turned more into a walk down memory lane.

What I mean by that is that the first Christian fiction I ever read was Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke. It was given to my by an aunt on Christmas. I was about 14-15 years old. To this point I had read a lot of classics. I think all of  Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte Bronte, and also a bunch of middle grade (in today's terms) of kid fiction, Fudge, Super Fudge...the mouse on the motorcycle..I can't remember the name... and let's not forget American Girl books. Good ol' kid of the 90's books.

I remember starting Love Comes Softly that Christmas night. I was hooked! I then proceeded to read the three other stories that came in the gift box, which I still have. I then found the four books that came after that, then I devoured When calls the Heart Series and all the others. I even read the spin off of Love Comes Softly. Once I read all of the books out by Janette Oke, I then moved on to other authors. Little by little, I started becoming acquainted with more and more authors, till my library had grown and overflowed my shelves.

It's amazing the impact one author can have on a person. I'm so thankful for that gift one Christmas and the beginning it gave me in a new genre of books I hadn't thought about visiting. I didn't know much about it at that time, but that thankfully has changed.

These books also opened the world of history to me. It's because of these historical fiction books, that I found a love if history. I wanted to see what the time really was like during the settings of these books and as I read and learned, the love kept growing (and mind you, this was all before the internet really took off! I had to trudge to the library and flip through the cards to find the books I wanted). I was determined!

As my thoughts came pouring forth, I figured, instead of hijacking a review post, I would make its own.



Do you have a book that pushed you into the genre you enjoy now? Was there an author that stands out in your reading that has made an impact?



4 comments

  1. For me, it was definitely Francine Rivers in college. Redeeming Love brought Christian historical fiction into a whole new light. :) Great post!

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  2. Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly was my first Christian romance! I read some Christian children's books before that but this series is what really started my love for romance!

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  3. Jamie, Redeeming Love is an amazing story! I'm sad I didn't read it sooner. It is a powerful story. Thanks!

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  4. Abbie, There is just something about Janette Oke books. They are a great starting point for Christian romance. :-)

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